Multiple copy arrangement for photocopy machines



Nov. 5, 1968 w. J. HANSON ETAL 3,409,366

MULTIPLE COPY ARRANGEMENT FOR PHOTOCOPY MACHINES Filed Sept. 2, 1966 2Sheets-Sheet '1 I 177 a H 4a"! 5 10 ma \QZL ;5 22 06 V {30 159/ 1 25 of9??? A 144 50H w INVENTORS Ge 0 r Ludwi son (J BY at GT 3 emson 1968 W.J. HANSON ETAL 3,

MULTIPLE COPY ARRANGEMENT FOR PHOTOCOPY MACHINES Filed Sept. 2, 1966 2 htshe 2 jfi 6 INVENTORS GeoYge Ludw (9 30):. Y Walter I Hangp'n ATTORNEYUnited States Patent 3,409,366 MULTIPLE COPY ARRANGEMENT FOR PHOTOCOPYMACHINES Walter J. Hanson, Old Greenwich, Conn., and George Ludwigson,Yonkers, N.Y., assignors to Pitney-Bowes,

Inc, Stamford, Comm, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 2, 1966, Ser.No. 576,920 17 Claims. (Cl. 355-402) This invention relates to a novelarrangement for recirculating originals through a photocopy machine.More particularly the invention relates to an improved multiple copyarrangement for photocopy machines whereby an original may beselectively recirculated along one of a plurality of possible originalsheet feed paths.

Some known types of photocopy machines provide means for automaticallyrecirculating an original through the machine so as to successively movethe original through an illuminating station and thereby automaticallyobtain a desired number of repeat copies of the same original. Each suchphotocopy machine is provided with a single effectively closed looporiginal sheet feed path which can accommodate originals having variablelengths up to a predetermined maximum. One difficulty associated withthis conventional type of original recirculating arrangement is that ittakes just about as long to obtain a given number of automatic repeatcopies of a relatively short-length original as it does to obtain thesame number of automatic copies of a relatively longlength original.This condition is imposed by the fact that all originals, short or long,must travel along the same single recirculating sheet feed path. Thuswhen several automatic repeat copies of a relatively shortlengthoriginal are desired there may be only a relatively short total lengthof time when the machine is actually producing copy; considerable wastedtime being consumed in merely ransporting the short original over longdead portions of the recirculating sheet feed path. The time delayapparent here can be bothersome to a machine operator who in thissituation must simply wait i for the photocopy machine to slowlygenerate the desired number of repeat copies. The instant inventioncontemplates eliminating the heretofore frequent time delays associatedwith the production of automatic repeat copies of originals havingwidely varying lengths.

The primary object of the instant invention is to make possible aphotocopy machine having an automatic repeat copy arrangement which willreduce the time required to produce a given number of repeat copies-of arelatively short-length original.

Another object of the invention is to provide an automatic repeat copyarrangement for a photocopy machine whereby an original that is to beautomatically copied several times may be recirculated through one of aplurality of original sheet feed paths.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sheet handling systemfor a photocopy machine whereby an original to be copied may be movedalong one of a plurality of recirculating paths having differenteffective lengths.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel original sheethandling system for a photocopy machine whereby a given original that isto be automatically copied a given number of times may be recirculatedthrough a selected one of a plurality of possible feed paths, theparticular feed path followed being dependent on the length of saidoriginal.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel automatic repeatcopy arrangement for a photocopy machine whereby a given original issensed as to a physical condition thereof and is then recirculatedthrough a selected one of a plurality of recycling original sheet icefeed paths, the selected path depending on the sensed condition of saidoriginal.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent as the disclosureprogresses.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic sketch illustrating the concept of the instantoriginal sheet feed path arrangement.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional side elevational showing the structuralnature and arrangement of the instant apparatus for recirculating anoriginal through one of a plurality of original sheet feed paths.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary front elevational sectional view taken alongsection line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a partial front elevational sectional view taken along sectionline 44 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view in partial section andillustrates the two operative positions of the path selection gate.

FIG. 6 is a partial front elevational view taken along section line 6-6of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a sketch illustrating a circuit diagram and related controlapparatus associated with the instant device.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic sketch illustrating the nature of the instantmultiple recycle path arrangement. Here when the machine is conditionedto make single copies of originals, an original is being manually fedinto the machine moves along an initial portion 10 of a main feed path11 and is then directed towards and through the terminal portion 12 ofsaid main path to the outlet station of the machine. The original isilluminated by well known means (not shown) at an illuminating orirradiating station 13 prior to moving to said outlet station. This typeof operation and arrangement is conventional in nature and need not befurther discussed here.

Means are provided for automatically recirculating an original back intothe main feed path 11 when it is desired to produce several copies ofthe same original, such means including a first gating means 15 that maybe conditioned so that the original after passing the illuminatingstation 13 will be recycled along a path indicated at 16 so as to enablethe original to be conducted back through the illuminating station adesired number of times. A second gating means 17 is provided so that anoriginal may take one of two possible feed paths in being recirculatedthrough said illuminating station. Gating means 17 is normally set in afirst position so as to direct the original along a relatively shortrecirculating feed path, as indicated at 18, but may be set to a secondposition by a solenoid 19, FIG. 1, so as to direct the original along arelatively long recirculating feed path as indicated at 20. Which one ofthese two possible feed paths is taken by any given original isdetermined by a physical condition, e.g. length, of that original. Tothis end a sensing means is provided for sensing the length of anoriginal and for accordingly setting the gating means 17 to the properposition; this sensing means including a pair of normally openelectrical switches A and B that are operatively positioned along thesheet feed paths, as shown in FIG. 1. The switches A and B are located apredetermined effective distance apart so that when an original which islonger than this distance is initially recycled switch A will still beclosed by the time the leading edge of the original closes switch B andunder these conditions a solenoid will be energized through suitablecircuitry so as to shift the gating means 17 and direct the originalalong said relatively long recirculating sheet feed path indicated at20. On the other hand when an original which is shorter than saideffective switch distance is initially recycled the trailing end of thisoriginal 3 1 I will have ridden off and thus opened the switch A beforethe leading edge thereof closes the switch 'B hence solenoid 19 will notbe energized and this relatively short original will follow along theshort original sheet feed path indicated at 18. By this arrangement andcontrol it will be seen that an original may be conducted along theappropriate one of a plurality of possible recirculating paths, therebyavoiding the situation where bothersome time delays are incurred whenfeeding a relatively short lengthed original over a relatively longrecycle feed path. Thus a photocopy machine equipped with the instantmultiple recycled path arrangement will be capable of producing copiesof relatively short lengthed originals faster than those machines havingthe conventional type single recycle path arrangement illustrated byBritish Patent No. 1,023,541.

FIGS. 27 illustrate one specific embodiment of the instant inventionwhich provides a multiple recycle path arrangement corresponding to thatgenerally described above in connection with FIG. 1. Only that much ofthe structure of a photocopy machine which is pertinent to the instantrecycling apparatus are shown in the drawings and it will be understoodthat unless otherwise'stated the various parts illustrated may beconstructed, supported and/ or arranged in any suitable manner wellknown in the art. Referring particularly to FIGS. 2-6 there is shown amachine frame comprising a base 31 on which is fixedly secured a pair ofparallel unstanding side frames 32 and 33. Mounted on and between thesaid side frames is a horizontaly disposed upper deck pate 35, the pate35 being located just below the upper edges of the said side frames 32,33 as is illustrated in FIG. 3. A deflector plate 36 is mounted on andbetween said side frames, this plate having an upstream portion 37 thatis disposed substantially parallel to the plate 35, and an arcuatedownstream portion 40. A guide element 41 supported on and between theside frames is provided with an outer cylindrical surface 42 that isspaced from and cooperates with the inner cylindrical surface 43 of saiddeflector plate so as to define an arcuate entryway means for manuallyfeeding originals into the machine. A first set of three feed rolls 44,45 and 46 are rotatably mounted on the machine frame, rolls 44, 45 and46 being secured to shafts 47, 50 and 51, respectively, FIG. 3, and eachshaft being rotatably mounted on the side frames 32 and 33 by similartype bushings 52. These bushings are located in two opposed and alignedvertical slots 53 and 54 formed in the side frames 32 and 33respectively and are spring biased downwardly towards the bottom ofslots 53, 54 by means of springs and 61 respectively. The ends of spring60- are secured to a frame stud 62 while the ends of spring 61 areconnected to a similar fixed stud 63 so as to urge the roll 46 intoengagement with roll 45, and in turn to urge roll 45 into engagementwith roll 44, as is illustrated in FIG. 3. The two bushings 52associated with roll 44 are located at the respective bottoms of saidside frame slots 53 and 54. The three rolls are rotatably interconnectedby gears 64, 65 and 66 secured to the respective roll shafts 47, 50, 51and are adapted to be driven by a sprocket and chain arrangement 67, 70that is coupled to the left end (as seen in FIG. 3) of shaft 47.

The downstream end of the deflector plate 36 terminates adjacent the nipof rolls 44 and 45. Disposed immediately downstream from said roll nipis a pair of parallel guide plates 71, 72 that are mounted on andbetween said side frames 32, 33 and are flared slightly outwards attheir respective upstream ends so as to facilitate entry therebetween ofan original that is emerging from between said rolls 44 and 45. Thelower guide plate 71 is centrally slotted as at 73 so as to permit theoperating arm of a switch A to protrude therethrough and into the pathof an original passing between said plates 71 and 72, switch A beingcentrally mounted between said side frames by any suitable bracket meansnot shown. The downstream ends of the horizontal guide plates 71, 72 aredisposed adjacent the nip of a pair of cooperating feed rolls 74 and 75which are arranged, supported, intergeared and driven in a mannersimilar to that described above for rolls 44 and 45 respectively.Disposed immediately downstream from the nip of rolls 74, 75 is ahorizontally disposed pair of guide members 80, 81 which are supportedon and between the said side frames 32, 33. The lower member is formedwith a wide transverse slot 82 that extends throughout most of thelength of member 80 extendingbetween said side frames. A glass plate 83disposed over said slot is secured by any suitable means to the uppersurface of guide member 80 so as to support an original moving thereoverwhile still permitting the lower face of the original to be irradiatedor illuminated from below as illustrated by the arrows at theilluminating station 13 of FIG. 1. The edges of the guide member 81 andthe glass plate 83 that are located adjacent the downstream side of thenip of rolls 74, 75 are flared slightly so as to facilitate entrytherebetween ofran original that is emerging from between said rolls 74,75. Disposed adjacent the downstream ends of said guide member 81 andglass plate 83 is another set of three cooperating feed rolls 84, 85 and86 which are constructed, supported, intergeared and driven in a mannersimilar to that described above for rolls 44, 45, and 46 respectively.Disposed adjacent the downstream side of the nip between rolls 84 and 85is a horizontal discharge guide plate 90 that is supported on andbetween the said side frames so as to conduct an original to theoriginal output station of the machine.

When the machine is conditioned for operation the feed rolls 44, 74 and84 will be continuously driven from a common chain, such as illustratedat 70, FIG. 3, and hence the other feed rolls 45, 46, 75 and 85 and 86will also be continuously rotated through gearing 64-66, etc. As will beapparent when an original to be copied is manually inserted into themachine, i.e. between plates 35 and 36, the leading edge of the originalwill move into the nip between rolls 44 and 45 and will be thereafteradvanced between the successive roll pairs 74, 75 and 84, 85 and finallyout onto the discharge plate 90. This main original sheet feed path isillustrated by said arrow 11 in FIG. 1 and represents the predeterminedfeed path to be followed by an original that is to be copied once.

When more than one copy of an original is to be automatically made agating means, corresponding to 15 of FIG. 1, and additional guide meansare provided to allow the original to be automatically recirculatedthrough the machine a number of times corresponding to the number ofcopies desired. This gating means comprises a gating member which hasbail-like arms such as at 101, FIG. 6, formed at each end thereof whichstraddle the ends of roll 85 and are pivotally mounted by suitablebushings 102 on opposite ends of the shaft 103 supporting the said roll85. As will be apparent the body portion 104, FIG. 6, of the gatingmember 100 is pivotable from a normal retracted or inoperative positionto an active position shown in FIG. 2. wherein the lower edge of saidbail body portion 104 extends into the main original feed path 11 andcauses the latter to be deflected so as to thereafter be able to moveinto one of two possible original recirculating paths corresponding to18 and 20 of FIG. 1, An arcuate guide plate 105 is mounted on andbetween said side frames 32 and 33, the downstream end thereof beingdisposed adjacent the nip of the driven rolls 85 and 86. The plate 105is centrally slotted so as to receive the operating arm of an electricalswitch B that is centrally mounted on and between said side frames byany suitable means not shown. Disposed immediately downstream from thenip of said rolls 85, 86 is a cooperating horizontal pair of parallelguide plates 106 and 107, the upstream ends of said plates 106 and 107being slightly flared as shown so as to facilitate entry therebetween ofan original that is emerging from between rolls 85, 86. Disposedadjacentthe downstream ends of plates 106, and 107 is a second gating meanscorresponding to 17 of FIG. 1, which includes a gating member 110 thathas bail-like arms such as at 111, FIG. 4, formed at each end thereofwhich straddle the ends of rolls and are pivotally mounted by bushings,such as 112, FIG. 4, on the shaft 113 supporting said roll 75. Thegating member is pivotable between a normal position and an actuatedposition as shown respectively by the dotted and solid lines in FIG. 5so as to determine whether an original that is being recirculated willmove along a relatively short recycle path around feed roll 75(corresponding to arrow 18 of FIG. 1) or along a relatively long recyclepath around feed roll 45 (corresponding to arrow 20 of FIG. 1). I

,An arcuate guide-plate mounted on said ,plate 72 cooperates with theclosely adjacent cyclindrical surfaces of roll 75 so as to guide anoriginal that is to follow along the relatively short feed path backinto the nip between feed rolls 74 and 75. For an original that is tofollow along the relatively long original sheet feed path anothercooperating pair of parallel guide plates 121 and 122 are mounted on andbetween said side frames 32, 33, the upstream end of these plates beingslightly flared so as to facilitate the entry therebetween of theleading edge of an original that has moved past the gating member 110,as indicated by arrow 123 of FIG. 5. The downstream ends of the plates121, 122 are disposed adjacent the nip of rolls 45, 46. The arcuatesurface 125 of the said member 41 being disposed adjacent the downstreamside of the nip of said rolls 45, 46 so as to redirect an originalemerging from between rolls 45, 46 back onto the arcuate portion 40 ofsaid plate 36 and again into the nip of rolls 44, 45. As will beapparent when the recycle gating member 100 is in the operative positionshown in FIG. 2 any original which is manually fed into the machine willbe automatically recirculated through a short or a long sheet feed pathso as to thereby automatically repeatedly move through the illuminatingstation of the machine a desired number of times. Once an original isdeflected by gating member 100 so as to be recycled through the machine,which path is to be followed by the original, i.e. the long or shortpath, will be determined by the setting of the gating member 110.

The means for actuating and controlling the actuation of said gatingmembers 100 and 110 will now be described. The bail-like arm 101, FIG.7, of gating member 100 is provided with extension which is biased by asuitable spring 136 towards engagement with a stud 137 fixed to themachine frame; the engaged condition here being.

indicated by the dotted lines of FIG. 7. In this dotted line positionthe gating member is conditioned as shown in FIG. 2 to recirculate anyoriginal that is fed into the machine. The gating member 100 is normallyheld out of this dotted line position and in the normal inoperativeposition illustrated by the solid lines of FIG. 7 by means of a pin 140which engages the left edge, as seen in FIG. 7, of said extension 135and which is fixed on the outer end of a crank arm 141 secured to ashaft 142. The shaft 142, which is rotatably mounted on the machineframe by any suitable means, is rotatably biased in a counter clockwisedirection, as seen in FIG. 7, by means of a suitable coil spring 143,the limit of counter clockwise movement here being determined byengagement of the crank arm 141 with a stud 144 that is fixed to themachine frame. The coil spring 143 is elfectively stronger than thespring 136 so that the recirculating gating member 100 is normally heldin the inoperative solid line position shown in FIG. 7 whereby anyoriginal that is fed onto the machine moves through the illuminatingstation only once as indicated by the arrow 11 of FIG. 1 and thus onlyone copy of this original is produced. When it is desired toautomatically produce several copies of a given original the gatingmember 100 is permitted to be displaced to its dotted line position,FIG. 7, as will now be described. Shaft 142 has a hand wheel 145 securedto the outer end thereof and a copy-counting ratchet wheel 146 securedto an intermediate portion thereof. Cooperating with ratchet wheel 146is an oscillatable pawl 147 which upon oscillation permits the shaft toincrementally rotate under the action of coil spring 143. Thisescapement action is conventional in nature andneed not be furtherexplained here other than to indicate that the number of escapementsteps possible for shaft 142 for any given setting of the hand wheel 145corresponds to the number of copies that will be automatically producedas will be further explained below. Shaft 142 also has a cam 150 securedthereto, this cam having a circular peripheral profile.

except for the notch 151. A cam follower 152 cooperates with cam 150 ina well known manner, the follower being disposed in said notch when saidshaft 142 is in its normal rotative position shown in FIG. 7. When it isdesired to automatically produce more than one, say three, copies of anoriginal the hand wheel 145 is manually rotated in the clockwisedirection designated by arrow 153, FIG. 7, so that a pointer orindicator mark 154 associated therewith is moved from the numeral 1(indicating single copy operation) marked on a suitable scale 155 to thenumeral 3 which in this example is representative of the desired numberof copies to be made. This manual rotation 153 of hand wheel 145 and theaccompanying rotation of the shaft 142 will produce three actions. Firstthe crank arm 141 will move in a clockwise direction thereby allowingspring 136 to swing the recirculating gating member 100 to its saidoperative position shown in FIG. 2 and by the dotted lines of FIG. 7.Second the cam follower 152 will ride out of the cam notch 151 therebyproducing electrical circuit changes as will be discussed later; andthirdly the ratchet wheel 146 is rotated through a distance equivalentto two teeth whereafter pawl 147, until oscillated, prevents reverserotation of ratchet wheel 146. With the gating member 1% thus set forrecycling and the counter ratchet wheel 146 set for making three copiesthe original may be recirculated through the illuminating station 13three times thereby allowing three copies thereof to be automaticallyproduced.

The means for actuating and controlling the gating member 110 will nowbe described. Gating member 110 which is positioned in accordanec withthe length of any particular original that is to be recirculated isadapted to be actuated by a solenoid 161) that is mounted on the machineframe by any suitable means. A link 161 is pivotally connected at oneend thereof to the solenoid armature 162 while the other end thereof ispivotally connected to a depending portion 163 of one of the baillikearms 111 of the gating member 110 as is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4. Aspring 164 yieldably biases armature 162 toa normal outward positionshown in FIG. 2. When solenoid is energized the gating member 110 willbe pivoted from its normal FIG. 2 position to the actuated positionshown in FIG. 5 whereby a recirculated original will be directed alongthe relatively long original sheet feed path as illustrated by saidarrow 123 of FIG. 5. As will be apparent a recirculated original mayhere be caused to follow along the relatively long recirculating path,corresponding to arrow 20 of FIG. 1, or the relatively shortrecirculating path (corresponding to arrow 18 of FIG. 1) depending onthe set position of gating member 110 which in turn is determined by thelength of the particular original to be copied.

FIG. 7 shows the electrical circuitry associated with the abovedescribed apparatus. Here the said gating member solenoid 160 isconnected across the main electrical supply lines 170, 171 through lines172, 173, 174, relay contacts 1' and line 175, the normally open relaycontacts r being operated between open and closed position by a circuitholding relay coil R which is connected by a line 176 to the line 174and by lines 177, 180 and switch 181 to the main line 171. Switch 181 isconnected, as at 182, so as to be operated by the said cam follower 152,the switch 181 being open when the cam follower is disposed in said camnotch 151 and the switch being closed when the cam follower is at anytime located out of said notch 151. A solenoid 185 is connected acrosssaid main lines 170, 171 by lines 186, 187 and 190 and by said normallyopen switch B (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2). The said normally open switch Ais connected by lines 191 and 192 between said lines 173 and 187. Thearmature of solenoid 185 is operatively connected to the escapement pawl147 as indicated at 193, so that each time solenoid 185 is energized andthen deenergized the pawl 147 will be oscillated through one cycle ofarcuate movement thereby allowing ratchet wheel 146 to escape one toothin a manner well understood for this type of escapement device.

A description will now be made of the automatic recycling operation forall the above described apparatus. Let it be assumed that four copies ofan original are to be made. The machine operator first turns the handwheel 145 in the clockwise direction 153 until the pointer 154 isopposite the numeral 4 on the staitonary copy number scale 155. Thishand wheel will advance the ratchet wheel 146 a distance equivalent tothree teeth for counting purposes, and will rotate cam 150 so that thecam follower 152 rides out of the cam notch 151 thereby immediatelyclosing circuit switch 181. The accompanying rotation of the crank arm141 permits the spring 136 to swing the recycle gating number 100 to itsoperative dotted line position shown in FIG. 7. The machine operatorthen manually feeds the original into the machine until the leading edgethereof moves between the continuously rotating feed rolls 44 and 45,these feeds rolls then advancing the original so that the latteroperatively depresses the arm of switch A and moves between plates 71,72 and into the nip of the continuously rotating feed rolls 74 and 75.Rolls 74 and 75 then advance the original through the illuminatingstation 13, effectively defined by plates 81 and 83, and into the nip ofthe continuously rotating feed rolls 84 and 85. As the leading edge ofthe original emerges from between the rolls 84 and 85 it will beintercepted and deflected by the now operatively positioned gatingmember 100, FIG. 2, so as to move along the arcuate guide plate 105 andoperatively depress the arm of switch B. The original is thus advancedinto the nip of the continuously rotating feed rolls 85 and 86 and thenbetween the guide plates 106 and 107. After the leading edge of theoriginal passes the end positions of guide plates 106 and 107 it willencounter the gating member 110 which has two operative positions fordirecting the original along a short or a long feed path depending onthe length of the particular original being recirculated. The switches Aand B comprise an original length sensing means which controls thegating member positioning solenoid 160. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 7 itwill be apparent that if the original to be copied is short enough sothat the trailing edge thereof runs off of the operating arm of switch Abefore the leading edge thereof depresses the arm of switch B thesolenoid 160 will not be energized and the gating member 110 will remainin its normal FIG. 2 or short recycle path position wherein the originalis directed along the guide plate 120 and back through feeds rolls 74,75 and the illuminating station 13. This control action may be seen fromFIG. 7 wherein if switches A and B are not both closed at given time therelay R and solenoid 160 will not be energized. Under these conditionsthe original which has been sensed as being relatively short, i.e.shorter than the effective FIG. 2 distance between switches A and B,will be automatically and repeatedly recirculated through the short andessentially closed looped feed path corresponding to 18 of FIG. 1. Eachtime the leading edge of the original depresses the arm of switch B thesolenoid 185 will be energized and each time the trailing edge thereofruns off of or releases said arm of switch B the solenoid 185 isdeenergized. Thus each time the original recirculates around the shortfeed recycle path the energization and deenergization of solenoid 185produces one cyclic oscillation of the cycle counting escapement pawl147 thereby allowing the shaft 142 to be rotatably driven by coil spring143 through one increment of counter clockwise movement, as seen in FIG.7, back towards its normal position. After the original has been thusrecycled through the illuminating station four times the crank arm 141in moving the last incremental step to its normal FIG. 7 position willcause pin 140 to engage arm 135 so as to swing the gating member 110 toits inoperative solid line FIG. 7 position whereby the original ismoving through the illuminating station 13 the fourth consecutive timewill not be recycled but will be moved out onto the output plate 90,FIG. 2, of the machine. Thus the machine after having automaticallyproduced four copies of the original is restored to its normal singlecopy mode of operation.

If multiple copies are to be produced from an original that isrelatively long, i.e., longer than the effective FIG. 2 feed pathdistance between said switches A and B, then when the leading edge ofsuch an original depresses the arm of switch B the trailing edge thereofstill has not run olf the arm of switch A and thus, as may be seen fromFIG. 7, with both switches A and B closed a circuit is completed throughlines 186, 187, 191, 192, 176, relay R, line 177, the now closed switch181 and line 180. A parallel circuit through line 173, solenoid 160 andline 172 will also be established at this time. With relay R energizedthe resultant closure of relay contacts r will complete a secondsolenoid circuit path through lines 175, 174, 173, solenoid 160 and line171. When solenoid 160 is energized the gating member 110 will beshifted to its FIG. 5 position so as to direct this relatively longoriginal along the relatively long recycle path corresponding to 20 ofFIG. 1. The relay holding circuit through contacts r and closed switch181 will cause the solenoid 160 to remain energized after switches Aand/or B are opened so that the relatively long original may berepeatedly recirculated along the long recycle path. When this longoriginal has passed through the illuminating station 13 the desirednumber of times, as determined by the setting of hand wheel 145, therecirculating gating member will be restored to its normal position, asdescribed above in connection with the relatively short original, sothat the long original will be directed onto the said output plate 90,and the machine will again be restored to its normal single copyoperating condition. It will be noted here that during the last steppingor counting movement of shaft 142 the cam follower 152 will fall intonotch 151 so that switch 181 is opened, the relay coil R thus beingdeenergized so as to open contacts r and deenergize solenoid 160 therebyallowing the solenoid armature spring 164 to restore the gating memberto its normal FIG. 2 position.

It will be understood that each time a long or a short original movesinto and through the illuminating station 13 additional means (notshown) synchronously moves a copy sheet into and through an exposurestation so that .a copy may be thereby made as is well understood in theart. From the above description of the operation of the instantapparatus it will be seen that a relatively long recycle path isprovided for production of multiple copies of relatively long originals,and that a relatively short original does not have to transverse thisrelatively long recycle path but may be rapidly recirculated around therelatively short recycle path thereby eliminating unnecessary dead timeduring which the machine would not be producing copy and during whichthe machine operator would have to wait for each repeat copy cycle torecommence.

Since many changes could be made in the embodiments of the inventionparticularly described and shown herein without departing from the scopeof the invention, it is intended that these embodiments be considered asexem- 9 plary and that the invention not be limited except as Warrantedby the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a photocopy machine having an irradiation station at which anoriginal to be copied may be irradiated;

means for irradiating that portion of said original that is located atsaid irradiation station; and

guide means for guiding an original through the machine during normalsingle-copy operations: the improvement comprising primary means forrecirculating an original along an effectively short original sheet feedpath, said original passing through said irradiation station duringmovement along said short path;

supplemental means for recirculating an original along an extendedoriginal sheet feed path that is effectively longer than said short feedpath, the last mentioned original passing through said irradiationstation during movement along said extended original sheet feed path;and

transport means for transporting originals along said short and extendedfeed paths respectively.

2. Apparatus as defined by claim 1: additionally comprising controlmeans for selecting which one of said feed paths is to be followed by agiven original and for directing said given original along the selectedone of said paths.

3. Apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein said short and extendedoriginal sheet feed paths have a common portion 4. Apparatus as definedby claim 2 wherein said control means includes a sensing means forsensing the length of an original;

and

gating means controlled by said sensing means for directing the sensedoriginal into said selected one of said feed paths.

5. In a photocopy machine having an illuminating station at which anoriginal to be copied may be illuminated; and

means for illuminating the portion of said original that is located atsaid illuminating station;

the improvement comprising guide means defining two original sheet feedpaths having different effective lengths;

transport means for transporting originals along said sheet feed pathsrespectively; and

gating means for recirculating an original through a selected one ofsaid paths.

6. Apparatus as defined by claim 5: additionally com prising controlmeans for sensing an original and for accordingly directing the sensedoriginal into an appropriate one of said feed paths.

7. In a photocopy machine having :an illuminating station; and

means for illuminating said station: the improvement comprising guidemeans defining at least two original recirculating sheet feed paths;

transport means for transporting originals along said feed pathsrespectively;

gating means for determining which one of said paths is to be taken byan original; and

control means operable to condition said gating means in accordance witha sensible condition of an original to be copied.

8. Apparatus as defined by claim 7: additionally comprising recyclingmeans for repeatedly recirculating an original through a selected one ofsaid sheet feed paths.

9. Apparatus as defined by claim 7 wherein at least a portion of saidone of said feed paths is common to the other of said feed paths.

10. In a photocopy machine having an illuminating station at which anoriginal'to be copied may be illuminated; and

means for illuminating that portion of an original that is located atsaid illuminating station: the improvement comprising guide meansdefining a plurality of original sheet feed paths having differenteffective lengths respectively, each of said paths passing through saidilluminating station, and parts of at least some of said paths beingcommon;

transport means for transporting originals feed paths respectively;

gating means for determining which one of said feed paths will befollowed by an original; and

means for sensing said original and for accordingly controlling saidgating means.

-11. Apparatus as defined by claim 10': additionally along saidcomprising recycling means for repeatedly recirculating an originalalong a selected one of said feed paths.

12. In a photocopy machine having an illuminating station at which anoriginal may be illuminating; and

means for illuminating that portion of an original that is located atsaid illuminating station: the improvement comprising guide meansdefining two original sheet feed paths having different effectivelengths respectively, each of said feed paths passing through saidilluminating station;

transport means for transporting originals along said feed pathsrespectively;

recycle means for repeatedly recirculating an original through aselected one of said feed paths;

gating means for determining which one of said feed paths is to befollowed by an original; and

control means operative to sense said original and to accordinglycontrol said gating means so that some of said originals may take thelonger one of said feed paths and others of said originals may take theshorter one of said feed paths.

13. Apparatus as defined by claim 12 wherein one of said paths iseffectively an extension of the other of said feed paths; and wherebysaid sensing means is adapted to recognize an original that is longerthan a predetermined length.

14. In a photocopy machine having an irradiation station at which anoriginal may be irradiated; and

means for irradiating that portion of said original that is located atsaid irradiation station: the improvement comprising guide meansdefining two original recirculating sheet feed paths each pasing throughsaid irradiation station, one of said feed paths being an effectiveextension of, and thus longer than, the other of said feed paths, saidfeed paths having at least one common portion;

transport means for transporting originals along said feed pathsrespectively;

recycling means for causing an original to be automatically recirculatedthrough a selected one of said feed paths;

gating means for determining which one of said feed paths is to befollowed by a recirculating original;

sensing means for sensing the length of an original;

and

actuator means controlled by said sensing means for operating saidgating means whereby a relatively short original may be directed alongthe shorter one of said feed paths and whereby a relatively longoriginal may be directed along the longer one of said feed paths.

1 1 1 2 15. In a photocopy machine:v nates at a point farther upstreamon said normal original a rfirst guide means for establishing a normalsinglesheet feed path than the eifective terminal point of said copyoriginal sheet feedpath through said machine; second guide means on saidnormal original sheet feed a second guidemeans for establishing arelatively short path. a i i l h t f ed pathalong which an original may5 17. Apparatus as defined by claim 15; additionally travel in beingredirected back into an upstream porcomprising I tion'of said normalsheet feed path; control means for controlling the operation of thesecafirst gating means cooperating with said first guide 0nd g g means;Said Control means comprising a means for redirecting an original into sid s d switching means for sensing the length of an original;

guidemeans andback into said upstream portion of 10 and said normalsheet feed path; actuator means controlled by said switching means for ia thirdguide means for establishing an extended orig- Operating SaidSficond gating meaIlS- inal sheet feed path along which an original mayY travel in being/redirected back to said normal sheet References Ctedfeed p a 0 15 UNITED STATES PATENTS a second gating means fordetermining 'WhlCh one of 3,091,169 5/1963 Tami et 88 24 said short andextended sheet feed paths a redirected original will take. 3,110,24111/1963 Frantz et al. 95--75 16. Apparatus as defined by claim 15wherein said third NORTON ANSHER primary Examiner guide meansefiectively commences at an intermediate 20 region of said second guidemeans and effectively termi- CHARLES FUNK Amsmm Exammer'

1. IN A PHOTOCOPY MACHINE HAVING AN IRRADIATION STATION AT WHICH AN ORIGINAL TO BE COPIED MAY BE IRRADIATED; MEANS FOR IRRADIATING THAT PORTION OF SAID ORIGINAL THAT IS LOCATED AT SAID IRRADIATION STATION; AND GUIDE MEANS FOR GUIDING AN ORIGINAL THROUGH THE MACHINE DURING NORMAL SINGLE-COPY OPERATIONS: THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING PRIMARY MEANS FOR RECIRCULATING AN ORIGINAL ALONG AN EFFECTIVELY SHORT ORIGINAL SHEET FEED PATH, SAID ORIGINAL PASSING THROUGH SAID IRRADIATION STATION DURING MOVEMENT ALONG SAID SHORT PATH; SUPPLEMENTAL MEANS FOR RECICULATING AN ORIGINAL ALONG AN EXTENDED ORIGINAL SHEET FEED PATH THAT IS EFFECTIVELY LONGER THAN SAID SHORT FEED PATH, THE LAST MENTIONED ORIGINAL PASSING THROUGH SAID IRRADIATION STATION DURING MOVEMENT ALONG SAID EXTENDED ORIGINAL SHEET FEED PATH; AND TRANSPORT MEANS FOR TRANSPORTING ORIGINALS ALONG SAID SHORT AND EXTENDED FEED PATHS RESPECTIVELY. 